If people were to ask me what I thought the hardest part about study abroad was going to be, I would have said budgeting and not being able to communicate with my family 24/7 back in the States. Upon arrival, I realized that not having unlimited access to data and Wi-Fi would be a constant struggle. But never in my wildest dreams did I imagine transportation would become the biggest challenge I would face.

I’ve never paid much attention to public transportation since I have never had to rely on it. Until now, and the game changed. I’m only in New Zealand for five month, so getting a car seemed ridiculous and, based on my minimal understanding of public transportation, I thought the bus system would work just fine. That was a joke. Unfortunately, getting around wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped, but then again, nothing ever is. I’ve faced three main problems:

1. The timetable online doesn’t match the times of actual departures.
2. Due to citywide construction, temporary bus stops are inconveniently located.
3. The locations of the temporary bus stops aren’t posted online.

This creates a considerable amount of trouble for an international student who has no idea where places are and solely relies on public transportation. A group of friends and I spent an hour trying to locate a bus that would take us to the beach. We had the bus stop location, bus number and pick-up times, but the bus stop had been moved to a temporary location. We asked local Kiwi in hopes that someone could point us in the right direction, but we were unsuccessful. We were about to give up since we were hot, tired of walking around the hilly city and very annoyed. Before we gave up, we called the Britomart (bus station). Finally, after giving them our exact location, they were able to point us in the direction of the bus stop.

I also expected that buses and trains can’t always take me exactly to my desired destination. Unfortunately, the buses barely go out of the city. So I turned my attention to rental cars. In New Zealand, they drive on the opposite side of the road than I’m used to. It’s quite an adjustment when you’ve spent five years driving one way, but I didn’t study abroad to stay in my comfort zone. After almost turning the wrong way into a roundabout, I’ve finally accomplished driving on the left side of the road, leaving the door open for new adventures.

In a way, I’m happy the bus system didn’t work in my favor. Driving around the beautiful islands with my new friends has been one of the books. We’ve camped on beaches, take day trips to beautiful waterfalls and witnessed the rolling hills along the way.

That’s the thing about New Zealand. The drive is just as beautiful as the destination.

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Note from the International Center: MU strongly recommends that you do not drive while abroad. Differences in local laws and driving behavior put you at high risk. Trauma resulting from traffic accidents is the number one cause of death for U.S. citizens abroad. For road safety information for 150 countries, go to the Association for Safe International Road Travel website.

About the blogger

Andrea H. is studying abroad on the ISA: AUT University program in Auckland, New Zealand.